Author
Topic: November Cycling Challenge 2015 (Read 16030 times)

jordanread

The cycling challenge for November 2015 is up and ready for you to start (or continue) riding!!If you logged miles last month, and selected "Remember Me" on the form, you have been added to this month's sheet already.

If you didn't log miles last month, or are a new participantClick here to fill out the form.You can access the sheet directly at this link.I can manually grab your historical data too, so if it's off, just let me know. If they aren't there within a day, or you have any other issues with the sheet, hit me up via email, Google+ Hangouts, PM, or just comment on this thread.Happy biking!!

This month's question (on the summary sheet) is a bit more in depth than usual. I promise I'll go back to the simple ones next month. I've found that while biking, certain issues seem to fall away, certain thoughts disappear, and certain concerns are totally less important than the ride itself. So what went away for you? Feeling a bit self-discovery-ey currently, so don't answer if you don't want to. Or propose a better question. Oh, and didn't get the links to our individual sheets working yet, but I am working on it, along with a few other things.

I've been having a pretty good time recently with getting a training schedule worked up. My mentor suggests I need to be doing more miles than I have been this season, and mentioned that he follows my progress on Strava. I've started working out at our HOA gym, trying to keep up the progress I've made this year and stay fit during the off season.

Had a wonderful ride on Saturday, got out to the turn around with nare a sprinkle, then downpour for about 30 minutes coming back before lightening up a bit. Rain gear seems to be working well.

jordanread

It will be as awesome as you'd like. Even though there might be a touch of ranking, and a bit of a competitive spirit around here, everyone who participates is here to help in any way they can. I love being number 1 for the few days I usually am, but mostly watching my history turn green makes me happy. Let me know (or post here) if you have any questions, comments, or concerns. This may be the longest running monthly gauntlet on the forums, and we're happy to have you here.

I'm joining again. Last month was a weird one, I didn't get to bike as much as I wanted. But I started November off right.

I do have a question. How often do people with fenders end up tightening them? I've had to tighten them twice in the past month. Should I just really crank down on the screws? Or just pay attention and accept that I'll have to tighten them repeatedly?

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jordanread

[...]I do have a question. How often do people with fenders end up tightening them? I've had to tighten them twice in the past month. Should I just really crank down on the screws? Or just pay attention and accept that I'll have to tighten them repeatedly?

I don't have fenders (although I should). Some of the first posts end up getting missed, so I'd recommend asking again in a couple of days. Also, there is threadlock.

Last night, I replaced my rear wheel and both sets of brake pads. This morning, it was pouring rain so hard that some parts of the city were almost flooding. Therefore, I decided the best plan was to use my 6-mile commute to work as the shakedown cruise, in the downpour, because I'm smart that way...!

:D

I usually see a bunch of other cyclists (at least on the multi-use trail part of my ride), but this morning I was mysteriously the only cyclist on my entire route.

The brakes were fine, but I had to pull over twice because my rear quick release apparently wasn't on tight enough and the wheel popped loose from the dropouts when I tried to accelerate from a stop. I also had to stop a couple of times because there was too much water in my eyes to see. Finally, I learned an important lesson, which is that even good fenders don't stop your feet from getting soaked when you ride through puddles unless you keep the pedals horizontal.

Wish me luck: my ride home tonight will be not only wet, but dark too!

Speaking of rain, I think the next step to going car-free is to not be a slave to a few raindrops falling from the sky. I tried Googling for wet weather gear, but got a ton of expensive stuff, and articles that seemed designed to market them.

So I ask you, Mustachians; what types of gear do I actually need for my bike and I to remain comfortable in light rain? I don't need the works yet; if the weather is truly rotten, I can still drive for now.

[...]I do have a question. How often do people with fenders end up tightening them? I've had to tighten them twice in the past month. Should I just really crank down on the screws? Or just pay attention and accept that I'll have to tighten them repeatedly?

I don't have fenders (although I should). Some of the first posts end up getting missed, so I'd recommend asking again in a couple of days. Also, there is threadlock.

I have loctite, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to use that on my bike... But if you guys say it's OK, then I'll believe you. :)

[...]I do have a question. How often do people with fenders end up tightening them? I've had to tighten them twice in the past month. Should I just really crank down on the screws? Or just pay attention and accept that I'll have to tighten them repeatedly?

I don't have fenders (although I should). Some of the first posts end up getting missed, so I'd recommend asking again in a couple of days. Also, there is threadlock.

I have loctite, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to use that on my bike... But if you guys say it's OK, then I'll believe you. :)

I'd say it depends on your setup, and the color of loctite. Can you post some photos of the screw/location?

So I ask you, Mustachians; what types of gear do I actually need for my bike and I to remain comfortable in light rain? I don't need the works yet; if the weather is truly rotten, I can still drive for now.

I don't have wet weather gear for me - I just get soaked, in fact I kind of enjoy it. But for my stuff (including my computer), I have an awesome messenger bag that keeps everything dry (even in a torrential downpour - that got tested). So I just bring a change of everything (and a small towel) and dry off. This probably won't work when it gets freezing, but was okay in the 45F rain the other day.

Speaking of rain, I think the next step to going car-free is to not be a slave to a few raindrops falling from the sky. I tried Googling for wet weather gear, but got a ton of expensive stuff, and articles that seemed designed to market them.

I have a "water-resistant" jacket from REI, and I'll tell you that yesterday it did pretty much nothing. By the time I got to work, I might as well have gone swimming for how wet I was.

I don't have wet weather gear for me - I just get soaked, in fact I kind of enjoy it. But for my stuff (including my computer), I have an awesome messenger bag that keeps everything dry (even in a torrential downpour - that got tested). So I just bring a change of everything (and a small towel) and dry off. This probably won't work when it gets freezing, but was okay in the 45F rain the other day.

What do you wear that keeps you comfortable at 45F (presumably with wind), even when it's wet?

What do you wear that keeps you comfortable at 45F (presumably with wind), even when it's wet?

A windbreaker I got from work (that still gets wet), warm leggings, bike shorts, a regular pair of shorts, a tight undershirt (something like underarmor), a shirt, thick socks, and a pair of running shoes. The shoes are the worst part, because they take forever to dry.

What do you wear that keeps you comfortable at 45F (presumably with wind), even when it's wet?

A windbreaker I got from work (that still gets wet), warm leggings, bike shorts, a regular pair of shorts, a tight undershirt (something like underarmor), a shirt, thick socks, and a pair of running shoes. The shoes are the worst part, because they take forever to dry.

Hmm....I hadn't thought about all of the layers I put on...

When it's raining really hard, I often wear sandals (Chacos). My feet are a bit chilly during the ride, but my commute is only 3 miles. Then my feet and sandals dry out really fast once I'm at work. I've also left a pair of shoes under my desk (and pants!) and had a pair of work shoes and commuting shoes.

On my upper body, I wear a base layer (similar to under armour), a mid-weight shirt, (sometimes a poly-pro shirt on top of that) a fleece vest, and my rain coat. I pretty much always wear my rain coat because it's the most visible thing I own.

I have a rather large selection of riding clothes to choose from (years of sports/hiking). I think the most important thing when you're expecting to get wet, is to avoid cotton. It's so absorbent and takes so long to dry, it feels so much colder when it's wet. Aim for quick drying clothes. That way, you can drape them over your bike (or somewhere in your office) and they'll be dry when it's time for you to get dressed for the ride home.

Speaking of rain, I think the next step to going car-free is to not be a slave to a few raindrops falling from the sky. I tried Googling for wet weather gear, but got a ton of expensive stuff, and articles that seemed designed to market them.

So I ask you, Mustachians; what types of gear do I actually need for my bike and I to remain comfortable in light rain? I don't need the works yet; if the weather is truly rotten, I can still drive for now.

The most important thing is to let go of the fear of getting wet. No matter what gear you wear, some part of you will get wet. I only get cranky about rain when it's raining so hard my eyeballs fill up with water and I can't see. Strangely, you get used to this after 20 min and then when you get inside you can't see because they're dry again. Weird.

I live in the PNW and I wear fleece lined tights (check Costco), socks, neoprene cycling booties over my bike shoes, some sort of polyester quick dry shirt and a cycling windbreaker. The wind breaker doesn't keep me dry, but it does dry quickly after I hang it up, so it's not wet for the ride home. When it's really cold (just above freezing) I add a thin toque under my helmet. My bag is just a regular messenger bag (not waterproof) and I put all my work clothes in a plastic grocery bag to keep them dry.

When it's warm and raining, I don't do anything special. Just the regular shorts and quick dry t-shirt. Biking makes me sweaty anyway, so some rain doesn't bother me.

I wear a Gore Tex riding jacket that is now 2-3 sizes too big (lost a lot of weight, it used to fit snug), got some Showers Pass rain pants (somehow found a pair of xxl pants for $25, a little large but works great when you have more layers underneath), and some booties for the shoes without soles (good for cleated shoes, just don't step in puddles). My stuff is carried in a plastic box, bungee corded and zip tied to a seat pole rack. For my head I have a waterproof cap that goes over my helmet.

Currently I only have a front fender, but am looking into adding one for the rear. Never had a problem with them coming loose on either bike. My road bike has fancy road bike fenders that strap on with rubber bands and reusable zip ties.

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jordanread

I've found that when it rains, I realize I'm not here in Colorado, so I took a really wrong turn. Friggin' droughts and lack of rain. I just sweat, and end up getting soaked. If there was rain, I have no clue what I'd do differently,

I use ziploc bags to store anything of importance when it's raining. The big ones hold my laptop, shoes, clothes that shouldn't get wet, small ones for smart phones, key fabs etc. Sometimes in the winter I wear an old crew jacket that's mostly waterproof, but it's too warm to use most of the time in FL. I also try and wear a non-white top on days when it's likely to rain. (No need to provide a free show of the sports bra underneath!)

Other than that, it's just my usual setup - dry wick clothing and fenders. I find I get truly soaked maybe 5 times per year max. And wet 2 or 3x as often as that. Which isn't that bad considering we have a 4-month long rainy season.

Have you tried getting a good weather app? I find that Dark Sky does a really good job at forecasting out the next hour of precipitation very accurately. I can adjust my departure times by 10-30 minutes and avoid a lot of rain with its help.

Plastic bread bags and plastic bag-type ponchos are a cheap way to find out what areas need to be covered up in the rain. I found out that for me, keeping my extremities warm (not necessarily dry) is essential in order to prevent chilblains, so I went for quality shoe covers and gloves, but shopped around/waited for deals on rain pants and a waterproof jacket.

A note about shoe covers: I have found that waterproof shoe covers really only work in light rain to prevent road spray soakage. In harder rain, if I'm not wearing rain pants, the water runs right down my legs and into the shoes anyway. In such a case, I'll just wear thermal shoe covers and let my feet get wet.

[...]I do have a question. How often do people with fenders end up tightening them? I've had to tighten them twice in the past month. Should I just really crank down on the screws? Or just pay attention and accept that I'll have to tighten them repeatedly?

I don't have fenders (although I should). Some of the first posts end up getting missed, so I'd recommend asking again in a couple of days. Also, there is threadlock.

I have loctite, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to use that on my bike... But if you guys say it's OK, then I'll believe you. :)

I'd say it depends on your setup, and the color of loctite. Can you post some photos of the screw/location?

Here are the offensive fender screws (attached to the straight silver rod, on the left). I think it will be fine if they're thread-locked. It looks like the tire should still be able to come out (I've only ever had to change one tire, and it wasn't on this bike). Anyone see any potential problems with putting threadlock on these screws?

[...]I do have a question. How often do people with fenders end up tightening them? I've had to tighten them twice in the past month. Should I just really crank down on the screws? Or just pay attention and accept that I'll have to tighten them repeatedly?

I don't have fenders (although I should). Some of the first posts end up getting missed, so I'd recommend asking again in a couple of days. Also, there is threadlock.

I have loctite, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to use that on my bike... But if you guys say it's OK, then I'll believe you. :)

I'd say it depends on your setup, and the color of loctite. Can you post some photos of the screw/location?

Here are the offensive fender screws (attached to the straight silver rod, on the left). I think it will be fine if they're thread-locked. It looks like the tire should still be able to come out (I've only ever had to change one tire, and it wasn't on this bike). Anyone see any potential problems with putting threadlock on these screws?

Those appear to be attached to specific frame mounts. Based on this link, I'd think that purple would be just fine. Didn't want to suggest something if the mounts were different. So I apologize for the delay in an actual answer.

[...]I do have a question. How often do people with fenders end up tightening them? I've had to tighten them twice in the past month. Should I just really crank down on the screws? Or just pay attention and accept that I'll have to tighten them repeatedly?

I don't have fenders (although I should). Some of the first posts end up getting missed, so I'd recommend asking again in a couple of days. Also, there is threadlock.

I have loctite, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to use that on my bike... But if you guys say it's OK, then I'll believe you. :)

I'd say it depends on your setup, and the color of loctite. Can you post some photos of the screw/location?

Here are the offensive fender screws (attached to the straight silver rod, on the left). I think it will be fine if they're thread-locked. It looks like the tire should still be able to come out (I've only ever had to change one tire, and it wasn't on this bike). Anyone see any potential problems with putting threadlock on these screws?

Those appear to be attached to specific frame mounts. Based on this link, I'd think that purple would be just fine. Didn't want to suggest something if the mounts were different. So I apologize for the delay in an actual answer.

No problem. I'll probably wait until they get loose again before using the Loctite anyways. :) Thanks for taking a look!

I'd bet that people around these parts may have some additional suggestions. So who else has a solution to bolts that loosen due to the awesome bumps we experience on a day to day basis?

I think this is one of those questions that pretty much has one right answer, and threadlock is it. However, I will say that I've never heard of purple Loctite before (maybe it's new...) so feel free to use blue (which should be available just about anywhere) instead. Just don't use red; it's too strong.

If it were something bigger, like a crank, then we might have a conversation about torque specs, but nobody's going to bother with that kind of thing for rack bolts.

I've had really bad rack bolts that just wouldn't stay put, even with threadlocker. I switched out the bolts for slightly longer ones and put nuts/washers on the other side of the mounts. This has been working so far.

There is one intersection on my commuting route that is going to kill me if I don't change my behavior. It is one of those a road dead-ends into another road with four lanes. There are lights, but the cars in the far lane aren't expecting a biker to come along and go all the way across to the bike path on the other side. There is of course a bike lane that I'm riding in, directly to the path specifically for bikes across the road. If a car isn't already stopped in the far lane (on my green), if the light turns yellow, the car just slows a bit and keeps on going. This has happened twice in two weeks.

Time to turn into a pedestrian walking my bike at that intersection. :/

Just borrowed a set of rollers from a friend for the next couple of months. Should be fun to keep up the winter riding without having to ride in downpours. I set it up with my bike camera to record me riding, so far I found on the roller that the angle my leg makes at 6 o'clock is slightly too small (135*) and have adjusted my seat height by 3mm. Testing this tonight to see if it makes a difference.

I have also been trying to use the recumbent spin bike at my gym but I get some knee pain while using it. I plan on bringing my video camera next time to record me so I can check the angle of my legs while cycling. The tough problem is unlike my bike which has essentially infinite granularity when it comes to adjusting saddle height, the recumbent has about a half inch granularity, or about 12mm per adjustment, which is a huge amount, and makes it hard to find just the right spot.

Should be fun to keep up the winter riding without having to ride in downpours.

Bah! You western Oregon types are such wusses about rain!

Just last week, I rode my bike to work in a downpour so hard that the weather service issued flash flood watches.

Lol, I did a half century last winter in the pouring rain, wringing out my gloves at every stop. For commuting I'll gladly face the rain and get to work, but for training I'll do it, but I'll also look for some alternatives.

Now I'm sitting in my cubicle wearing my nice dry rain pants with nothing underneath while my jeans dry out under my desk because it turns out it doesn't matter if it's not really raining; the spray from the road will soak you through.

Lol, I did a half century last winter in the pouring rain, wringing out my gloves at every stop. For commuting I'll gladly face the rain and get to work, but for training I'll do it, but I'll also look for some alternatives.

Yeah, I know you're not really a wuss. I was just enjoying the irony of your statement.

Yup. Last night I rode home in a light drizzle wearing jeans and a cotton shirt (rather than the polyester athletic stuff I usually commute in) because I had a community meeting to attend, but hardly got wet at all because I have good fenders.

By the way, you might want to periodically check on those jeans and turn them over/blot with paper towels/hold them under the hand blowdryer in the bathroom, because it's entirely possible they'll still be soaking wet at 5PM.

By the way, you might want to periodically check on those jeans and turn them over/blot with paper towels/hold them under the hand blowdryer in the bathroom, because it's entirely possible they'll still be soaking wet at 5PM.

I have been checking on them; thanks for the reminder though. I wish we had a hand dryer in the bathroom!

Fenders are fantastic. I have a big box on the back of my bike and forego that fender (though I still want one, I get some spray on the back of my pants sometimes) but the front fender absolutely improved 10 fold my rain riding. I no longer get a constant spray of water into my face, puddles aren't soaking my shoes from parting the waters (though there are limits to this), and turning slightly doesn't send a stream of muddy water up the front of me.

On my road bike I have full fenders and I only get wet on rides in the rain, rather than wet and dirty.

Further tests with the rollers are going great. So far 3 days in a row and I am now able to grab the towel without too much effort or slowdown, though I'm still far from perfect on this. Looks like I should be able to easily make it through the winter with some decent training and hit next year stronger than I was this year.

Then road test fenders. I got mine a few days ago, they are on the bike...tomorrow there is rain. I'm curious how well they'll work.

Road tested fenders today. Verdict: Awesome! Is it unseemly to steer for puddles in a road bike? ;)

Not at all! Just beware of the puddles that are hiding pot holes . . .

That's what I think of whenever I see a puddle, especially smaller ones. The reason there is a puddle is the water can't flow somewhere else, so very likely that there is a pothole somewhere around that puddle.

Last night I was going to get back on the rollers, but on my ride home I felt a little bit of a pain near my left knee, sort of on the tendon that comes up behind it, possibly the hamsting or something related. Tried the rollers for about 1 minute and said, nope, not happening tonight. This morning so far no pain in the same area, though I didn't push myself very hard because I'd rather give it a little rest and let it heal than push and hurt myself more. Hopefully tonight I can get another good training session going.

I always look forward to the friendly competition in my city and around the office during bike to work month. This is like that, except it'll just keep going every month(?) and there is a nice centralized place for the data to live, too cool.

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jordanread

I always look forward to the friendly competition in my city and around the office during bike to work month. This is like that, except it'll just keep going every month(?) and there is a nice centralized place for the data to live, too cool.

Welcome! And yeah, we do a new one every month, and I'll post here the link to the new month. Your monthly data is saved and carried forward (assuming you selected that).

I'm going to ride to meet up with a friend of mine later this morning. While we were figuring out scheduling and all that, he sent me video he made. I don't want to call it the dark side of biking, as usually that is reserved (at least to me) for dealing with other people, but crashes are a thing that happens. The video is just over 11 minutes long, but it documents this friend's recovery after a gnarly crash that left him paralyzed for a few months. It's a pretty amazing story. I've only seen him once since the accident, so this will be the second time. Of course I chose to meet somewhere along the bike trail, because I'm like that. He's now apparently riding a recumbent trike.

I'm going to ride to meet up with a friend of mine later this morning. While we were figuring out scheduling and all that, he sent me video he made. I don't want to call it the dark side of biking, as usually that is reserved (at least to me) for dealing with other people, but crashes are a thing that happens. The video is just over 11 minutes long, but it documents this friend's recovery after a gnarly crash that left him paralyzed for a few months. It's a pretty amazing story. I've only seen him once since the accident, so this will be the second time. Of course I chose to meet somewhere along the bike trail, because I'm like that. He's now apparently riding a recumbent trike.

Thanks for the video, very timely for me. I didn't break anything or bruise a spinal cord but I did get into my first bike accident that left me on the ground. I was going down a road which is supposedly a popular route for cyclists getting to the trail I wanted to ride and there were train tracks that intersect it at probably 45-30 degrees. A car happened to have been coming the other way so I wasn't able to position myself on the left side of the road to run across the tracks at the preferable 90 degrees.

If you skip to the end I'll have picked my bike up and you'll see more clearly how the railroad tracks are laid. I came out of it with a hurt wrist and shoulder on my right side, and a scraped up palm (I had taken my gloves off after a couple miles because it was too warm for the gloves I had, sort of wish I wouldn't have now). I can attest that a helmet very much saved my life. I distinctly recall the broad side of my head smacking against the pavement and thinking, "that didn't hurt much at all, felt like a tap."

I continued to ride another 10 miles onto the trail before getting a flat, which was a pain to replace with the injuries I had, and my CO2 cartridge failed me, so I tore the stem off the bad tube (I had used a new one when repairing knowing I only really had one chance) and stuffed that into the tire with the good tube to increase the volume in the tire and began my slow trek back. Fortunately, despite it being a drizzly day outside, I came across another cyclist who had a better CO2 tip than I did (I have also since purchased a new one) and got me on my way home at full speed rather than a cumbersome 5-9mph.

Somewhere on the route back my camera fell off my bike without me noticing. After getting home and resting for a bit my wife and I set out to try and find the camera. I remember it going low battery about the time I turned around, but don't remember if I saw it when the other cyclist stopped to help, so I found that spot and we drove towards it, taking the route I took back (which avoided that slippery patch of train tracks). Luckily around the 11mi from home point we saw it on the side of the highway and turned around and picked it up. A minor scratch on the plastic outer lense protector, no other damage.

Sadly today I drove to work as my arm and shoulder are still sore, I can't pick up heavy items, or hold their weight, with my right arm yet. My team captain, who happens to be a doctor, says my arm is probably my deltoid and rotator cuff. Looks like this week I'll be on the gym recumbent while my shoulder and wrist heals. Supposed to be great weather this weekend and I hope to be back out in it.

I know my story sort of pales in comparison, but your friends video is a great inspiration. It's hard to keep myself from just getting right back on the bike and riding more, but I know it'll be better to give myself a little time to heal. Thanks for sharing.

jordanread

Thanks for the video, very timely for me. I didn't break anything or bruise a spinal cord but I did get into my first bike accident that left me on the ground.

Glad you enjoyed it. Tell me he didn't look like a robot! Also, wow. With as much as you ride, I would have expected at least a few falls. I've taken more than my fair share, but they are just fun. You ride on ice?

I was going down a road which is supposedly a popular route for cyclists getting to the trail I wanted to ride and there were train tracks that intersect it at probably 45-30 degrees. A car happened to have been coming the other way so I wasn't able to position myself on the left side of the road to run across the tracks at the preferable 90 degrees.

If you skip to the end I'll have picked my bike up and you'll see more clearly how the railroad tracks are laid. I came out of it with a hurt wrist and shoulder on my right side, and a scraped up palm (I had taken my gloves off after a couple miles because it was too warm for the gloves I had, sort of wish I wouldn't have now). I can attest that a helmet very much saved my life. I distinctly recall the broad side of my head smacking against the pavement and thinking, "that didn't hurt much at all, felt like a tap."

I continued to ride another 10 miles onto the trail before getting a flat, which was a pain to replace with the injuries I had, and my CO2 cartridge failed me, so I tore the stem off the bad tube (I had used a new one when repairing knowing I only really had one chance) and stuffed that into the tire with the good tube to increase the volume in the tire and began my slow trek back. Fortunately, despite it being a drizzly day outside, I came across another cyclist who had a better CO2 tip than I did (I have also since purchased a new one) and got me on my way home at full speed rather than a cumbersome 5-9mph.

Somewhere on the route back my camera fell off my bike without me noticing. After getting home and resting for a bit my wife and I set out to try and find the camera. I remember it going low battery about the time I turned around, but don't remember if I saw it when the other cyclist stopped to help, so I found that spot and we drove towards it, taking the route I took back (which avoided that slippery patch of train tracks). Luckily around the 11mi from home point we saw it on the side of the highway and turned around and picked it up. A minor scratch on the plastic outer lense protector, no other damage.

Sadly today I drove to work as my arm and shoulder are still sore, I can't pick up heavy items, or hold their weight, with my right arm yet. My team captain, who happens to be a doctor, says my arm is probably my deltoid and rotator cuff. Looks like this week I'll be on the gym recumbent while my shoulder and wrist heals. Supposed to be great weather this weekend and I hope to be back out in it.

I know my story sort of pales in comparison, but your friends video is a great inspiration. It's hard to keep myself from just getting right back on the bike and riding more, but I know it'll be better to give myself a little time to heal. Thanks for sharing.

You are all welcome for the video. I'm assuming the cool HUD thing on the video is because it's a VIRB? If not, I demand to know how you did it. :P Anyway, you've kind of inspired me to cut some of my bike crashes into a video. I will say there are a lot more fun when it's a helmet cam. I mean, not for us who crash, but more fun to watch.

Thanks for the video, very timely for me. I didn't break anything or bruise a spinal cord but I did get into my first bike accident that left me on the ground.

Glad you enjoyed it. Tell me he didn't look like a robot! Also, wow. With as much as you ride, I would have expected at least a few falls. I've taken more than my fair share, but they are just fun. You ride on ice?

I rode every day for 2 years in Taiwan, probably at least 8-12 hours a day on average, if not more (I was a Mormon missionary (now atheist) and apparently not a very good one because I rarely had people to teach, thus riding 8-12 hours a day trying to find someone). Never an accident, fall, or spill. Only flat tire I got was when I lent my bike to someone else who returned it flat.

In the states I've ridden for almost two years nearly every day, including a freak snow storm that was sunny in the morning and a foot of snow by 3 o'clock. Never been hit by a car (close call once), and only recently had a collision with one that was in the bike lane which I reported here earlier last month. Even with racing I've never had an accident. This has shocked me a little bit, but I still have a huge desire to ride.

You are all welcome for the video. I'm assuming the cool HUD thing on the video is because it's a VIRB? If not, I demand to know how you did it. :P Anyway, you've kind of inspired me to cut some of my bike crashes into a video. I will say there are a lot more fun when it's a helmet cam. I mean, not for us who crash, but more fun to watch.

The HUD thing is because of the VIRB edit software, free to download and use, no VIRB required. If your video has gps data with it then it will just use that, and you can add a more extensive gpx file to it (though not merge them) and it will match up the gps data to synchronize or else you'll have to tell it a spot in the video that matches with your gpx.

Funny thing was I had turned the MIC off for this ride thinking, why do I need to record the wind going by, if I hadn't you would have heard the shouting and the cussing.

I like the seeing the numbers that show how much was saved in gas per biking trip; however, I always feel a bit annoyed when gas prices fall and all of the "Cost if driven" numbers fall. Conversely, if gas goes up, it is fun to see all of those numbers tick up. It is kind of fun to feel like I'm swimming against the current in a manner of speaking.

Is it possible to use the GasBuddy xml to pull out the price of gas on a given day, and then add a column that has the gas price on that particular day so that the "Cost if driven" corresponds to the day the miles were logged?

Not that I really care - I love the speadsheet! I was just curious - plus I'm a datahead. :D

I like the seeing the numbers that show how much was saved in gas per biking trip; however, I always feel a bit annoyed when gas prices fall and all of the "Cost if driven" numbers fall. Conversely, if gas goes up, it is fun to see all of those numbers tick up. It is kind of fun to feel like I'm swimming against the current in a manner of speaking.

Is it possible to use the GasBuddy xml to pull out the price of gas on a given day, and then add a column that has the gas price on that particular day so that the "Cost if driven" corresponds to the day the miles were logged?

Not that I really care - I love the speadsheet! I was just curious - plus I'm a datahead. :D

I hear you there, I love going through spreadsheets and projecting savings, etc. I've found that now I've cut down my driving a whole lot I'm sort of out of touch with how much gas costs. If it wasn't for my mileage app which I record how much my fill up was and when I wouldn't even be able to tell you if the price went up or down, and sometimes I miss out on all the commotion over super low gas prices, or the hysteria around prices going up. Such is the lot of those who fill up but once every two months.

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jordanread

I like the seeing the numbers that show how much was saved in gas per biking trip; however, I always feel a bit annoyed when gas prices fall and all of the "Cost if driven" numbers fall. Conversely, if gas goes up, it is fun to see all of those numbers tick up. It is kind of fun to feel like I'm swimming against the current in a manner of speaking.

Is it possible to use the GasBuddy xml to pull out the price of gas on a given day, and then add a column that has the gas price on that particular day so that the "Cost if driven" corresponds to the day the miles were logged?

Not that I really care - I love the speadsheet! I was just curious - plus I'm a datahead. :D

Unfortunately, the IMPORTXML() function only grabs the current data on the website (which is today's). After looking around a bit at gasbuddy, I can't find historical daily data (although I did find this pay historical data site, but I'm only willing to spend time on the challenge, not money). I did spend a little bit of time setting something like this up moving forward. I created a spreadsheet that will grab the daily data from Gasbuddy, and put it into a spreadsheet. I won't modify the Cycling Challenge at this time, and still need to wait until tomorrow to ensure the trigger works. That being said, read only access is available here. In theory, it will grab the data every day from GasBuddy, and enter the static values in the Data spreadsheet with the date. Anyone can access this, and you can manually edit your own sheet each month. Working on a more friendly way to copy paste for ease of use.

« Last Edit: November 17, 2015, 12:35:57 PM by jordanread »

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Nancy

Since my bike was stolen in August, I've been riding Backup Bike full time. I'm super thankful for her, but she doesn't fit me properly (unfortunately). In the short term, I need to buy a new seat. (Long term = new bike). Here's the deal. I have wide sit bones; I think I'd need a 160mm saddle, but bonus issue: my sit bones are misaligned, so I'd need it to be wide enough for a good portion of the length of the saddle (not just at the very back). I'm not sure if I'm explaining this well. This is probably a long shot, but does anyone have saddle suggestions? Thanks!

I like the seeing the numbers that show how much was saved in gas per biking trip; however, I always feel a bit annoyed when gas prices fall and all of the "Cost if driven" numbers fall. Conversely, if gas goes up, it is fun to see all of those numbers tick up. It is kind of fun to feel like I'm swimming against the current in a manner of speaking.

Is it possible to use the GasBuddy xml to pull out the price of gas on a given day, and then add a column that has the gas price on that particular day so that the "Cost if driven" corresponds to the day the miles were logged?

Not that I really care - I love the speadsheet! I was just curious - plus I'm a datahead. :D

Unfortunately, the IMPORTXML() function only grabs the current data on the website (which is today's). After looking around a bit at gasbuddy, I can't find historical daily data (although I did find this pay historical data site, but I'm only willing to spend time on the challenge, not money). I did spend a little bit of time setting something like this up moving forward. I created a spreadsheet that will grab the daily data from Gasbuddy, and put it into a spreadsheet. I won't modify the Cycling Challenge at this time, and still need to wait until tomorrow to ensure the trigger works. That being said, read only access is available here. In theory, it will grab the data every day from GasBuddy, and enter the static values in the Data spreadsheet with the date. Anyone can access this, and you can manually edit your own sheet each month. Working on a more friendly way to copy paste for ease of use.

Excellent! Thank you!For those interested, you can import the values from the spreadsheet that is updating with the daily gas prices with this formula:=IMPORTRANGE("1AJhRLVL4OJjH4RxlNv83cCMfLYkezVw4tV15ltyf7_U", "Data!A1:B32")